The Teahouse: Small Business, Everyday Culture, and Public Politics in Chengdu, 1900-1950 [Hardcover]

Di Wang (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0804758433 | ISBN-13: 978-0804758437 | Publication Date: June 11, 2008

This is the first book-length history of Chinese teahouses in either the English-speaking world or in China, examining economic, social, political, and cultural changes as funneled through the teahouses of Chengdu during the first half of the twentieth century. The images that are brought together in this work paint a complete picture of everyday culture in the most basic unit of public life. This examination of the teahouse and public life from the perspective of microhistory takes us into the depths of a city to explore urban society in depth and provides a new way to look at the Chinese city and at everyday culture.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Well written and free of distracting jargon, the book is a pleasure to read."—Richard Belsky, American Historical Review

"The appealing aspect of the book is that it also draws attention to the larger urban context of the city .... By focusing on the teahouse, the author enables us to understand concretely the dynamics of the city's small industries that have been little touched upon by current scholarship."—Tomoko Shiroyama, International Journal of Asian Studies.

"Di Wang's pioneering and well-researched study of the teahouse...links together the seemingly disparate issues of small business practices, everyday life, and public politics."—Joshua H. Howard, Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies

"Wang makes a significant contribution with his microstudy of an old and ubiquitous social, business, and cultural institution in Chengdu."—CHOICE

"Wang's familiarity with Chengdu history and its archival sources allows him to examine the social and economic life of the teahouse in rich detail, and he has done that splendidly in this valuable and important study." —Joseph W. Esherick, University of California, San Diego

About the Author

Di Wang is an Associate Professor of History at Texas A&M and the author of three previous books, including Street Culture in Chengdu: Public Space, Urban Commoners, and Local Politics, 1870-1930 (Stanford, 2003), which won the Best Book (Non-North American) Award for 2005 from the Urban History Association.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 376 pages
• Publisher: Stanford University Press (June 11, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0804758433
• ISBN-13: 978-0804758437
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.4 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,932,484 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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